Dr Michael Pankhurst (above left) and Dr Rosie Brown (above right) have been awarded University of Otago Early Career Awards for Distinction in Research. They are two of just six rising researchers in the University to receive this award in 2018.
As part of the award they will each receive mentorship from the University's O-Zone group to help promote their research and to help facilitate networks and collaborations to grow their careers.
Dr Pankhurst is a Lecturer in this department. His research investigates regulation of ovarian follicle development and the quality of the oocyte (egg) within. The role that Anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) plays in this process is a key focus. AMH is secreted in an inactive form and the current aim is to determine how proAMH (the inactive precursor of AMH) is converted to AMHN,C in the extracellular environment.
He received a Health Research Council Sir Charles Hercus Fellowship in 2017 to study “Bi-modal anti Müllerian hormone signalling in the ovary.”
Dr Brown is a Research Fellow in the Grattan group. Her research seeks to understand how a mother's brain adapts during pregnancy to facilitate a change in behaviour to allow her to care for her young. Key to this behavioural adaptation is a change in hormone signalling in the brain during pregnancy and through into the postpartum period.
In 2017 Rosie was awarded a Marsden Fast Start grant for her project “The neurobiology of maternal behaviour – dissecting the role of prolactin in the medial preoptic area.”
Visit the University of Otago website to learn more about all the recipients.